L. A. Kelley

Pages

Friday, April 27, 2018

You’re cruising along nicely, enjoying the literary scenery; characters jell, plots flow smoothly, descriptions create the mood of the proper time and place. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, you swerve. Ideas fall part and that engrossing manuscript that flowed along so neatly is now one hot mess. Don’t throw out your fictional baby with the literary bathwater. You’ve only reached a snag on the road to publication. Sometimes coming to a dead stop is necessary to get thoughts in order. In general, weakness occur in the two places; character or plot issues. One method to get back on track is called the W5. It asks basic questions about character and plot and can help guide your thoughts.

Character Issues

Who

If you want to round out your hero or heroine (H/H) consider how they interact with others. Who is directly affected by their actions? Only the H/H? What about friends? Family Members? Are they really important to the story or just window dressing? If they don’t advance the plot, what good are they? Too many clutter a plot and slow down the action. Secondary characters should have a specific purpose (so should the H/H.) If Joe the Coffee Shop guy’s only function is to give the heroine her cup of coffee in the morning than delete Joe the Coffee Shop guy and have her brew her own.

Are you clear on the strengths and weakness of the H/H? Every human has both, and both should appear somewhere in the story or else you have a caricature and not a person. How do these strength or weaknesses help the H/H agenda and move the plot along. How do they hinder?

Who makes the decisions in the story? If one character is always leading, then the others are probably too weak and ineffective.

Where?

Where is the most tension between the main characters? Is it a personality conflict or conflict of ideals?How can they be resolved? Should one convince the other or is a combination of both the best pathway to success. Can the H/H get help from others? Do these characters have an alternate function or are they only there to feed information to the H/H? If so, they may not be important and the information they distribute can be found in another way.

Plot Issues

What?

What is both the best and worst case scenario for this story? Think of at least three steps necessary for your H/H to achieve. What is the least and most important one of them? In most stories, the objective is obvious, but if your plot feels a little lackluster consider one alternative or a hidden agenda. This is the way people act in real life. They aren’t ruled by single motives alone.

When?

Is the action well-paced? Will a reader feel rising tension beginning with the first chapter and have a satisfying letdown at the end? Novels don’t have one climatic point, but a series of smaller ones, some more important than others. They lead up to the denouement or final resolution. Does the H/H take action at the right time? A writer can’t keep a reader on an emotional high throughout an entire novel. There has to be some downtime, too, to flesh out the story. Lastly, when will the H/H know they succeeded? Will it be at the denouement or shortly thereafter with a final resolution?

Why?

Have you considered the why of this story? Why must it be told? (“To score a publishing contract” is not the right answer.) The story should be told because it’s enjoyable or enlightening. Have you conveyed to the reader sympathy for the characters so that they care about the resolution? What about the characters? Are the reasons for their actions clear? Are obstacles placed in the path of the story’s resolution or are you merely throwing barriers in the H/H’s way to make the story longer. Each barrier should have a logical reason behind it and a different resolution.

Now you’re back on track. Put on that writing cap and get to work. The story awaits.

Friday, March 30, 2018

The Suicide Song, Big Easy Shaman Book 3, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Once you hear the
Suicide Song, it’s too late to run.

There’s more trouble in the Big Easy for budding shaman
Peter Whistler and his friends. The Book
of the Practically Undead is proving difficult to destroy. Meanwhile,
someone mastered the Suicide Song, a particularly nasty bit of dark magic. Once
a victim is trapped by the singer’s deadly tune, death by suicide is the only
escape. Could this new conjuror also have something to do with a lovesick
fifolet causing trouble in Bayou St. Gerard? Peter’s own love life could
certainly use assistance. How can he concentrate on the upcoming Père Noël dance
when danger lurks around every corner?

Fifolets, pirate curses, and deadly threats to New Orleans.
Will Peter and his friends prevail and stop the Suicide Song before the
conjuror claims the next victim?

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

A common occupation for either a hero or heroine in an action novel is law enforcement officer. The profession makes sense. When dealing with the evil aspects of the paranormal, a person needs steely nerves and ready access to firearms. By why stop with a cop when other agencies might do nicely?

NYPD Intelligence Bureau

Did you know an arm of the NYPD is an international intelligence organization? The mission of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau is to detect and disrupt criminal and terrorist activity. Officers and civilian analysts in the Intelligence Bureau collect and analyze data from a variety of sources here and abroad in the pursuit of criminal and terrorist organizations. The Bureau consists of two divisions; the Intelligence Operations and Analysis Section (IOAS) and the Criminal Intelligence Section (CIS).

The objective of IOAS is to thwart potential terrorist plots. The sector uses investigators and civilian analysts to collect and analyze information about individuals or groups engaged in unlawful activity. CIS has a similar function, but concentrates on the criminal realm. A critical component of CIS is the Field Intelligence Officer (FIO) program. FIOs are ranking uniformed officers deployed to each NYPD precinct, where they collect and disseminate criminal intelligence information to support narcotics, firearms and other criminal investigations, ranging from simple short-term cases to complex long-term ones.

While members of the Intelligence Bureau in New York City work closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement, through its International Liaison Program officers are posted in law enforcement agencies around the world. These officers support the NYPD by providing intelligence and working with local police. Nothing is said about hunting down demons that roam the sewers and pose a threat to the good folk of New York City, but one can only hope.

INTERPOL

Need an overseas agent provocateur to handle those pesky gremlins, banshees, rakshasha, and strigoi? Don’t bother looking for a dashing Interpol agent. There aren’t any. INTERPOL’s mission it to train, offer investigative support, collect data and provide communications channels among cooperating law enforcement agencies. INTERPOL also analyzes crime trends and facilitates international police cooperation even where diplomatic relations don’t exist between countries. In other words, no hunky experts in daring-do, just office drones. Agents don't even carry guns. (Although nothing is said on their website about stakes or silver bullets.) It’s more useful to think of INTERPOL as a bulletin board where national police forces around the world post wanted notices and requests for information. Some nations have decided to give these requests binding legal force, but the United States isn’t one of them.

All INTERPOL member countries are connected through a ﻿secure communications system known as I-24/7. This gives police real-time access to ﻿criminal databases containing millions of records and can alert member countries to fugitives, dangerous criminals, missing persons, or weapons threats. Unfortunately, instead of hunting supernatural menaces through the sewers of Paris, an Interpol is agent is more likely to conduct an online learning course in investigative techniques or an administrative management program for senior police staff.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Ranger Division is the primary criminal investigative branch of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Most functions are common among law enforcement agencies. Rangers investigate murder, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, theft, fraud, threats against state and federal officials, and missing persons.

Unlike standard police forces in the rest of the country though, Texas Rangers also have special duties involving border control. The Ranger Reconnaissance Team is a highly trained tactical force and their primary responsibility is to carry out missions along the Texas-Mexico border region.They conduct overt and covert operations in remote areas where conventional law enforcement can’t operate. The focus is to gather intelligence and disrupt criminal activity usually associated with drug cartels. According to the official

website, one of their duties is to “conduct interdiction” which, if you know what the word “interdiction” means, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I prefer to read between the lines and like to think they really mean “benedictions” before pursuing supernatural creatures. Although, the website is sketchy on this subject too, so chupacabras may still run free in the Big Bend National Park. It’s a nice thought.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Now that Valentine’s Day has come and gone it’s time to reflect on what you learned about romance this year. Absolutely nothing, you say. Well, here’s a news flash: love is all in the chemicals.

Some of us read about romance. Others find it a fascinating study. A team of scientists led by Dr. Helen Fisher at Rutgers University has determined love has three categories: lust, attraction, and attachment. Each is characterized by its own set of hormones. Testosterone and estrogen drive lust; dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin create attraction; and oxytocin and vasopressin are linked to attachment.

Lust

There are big differences between the three categories and how they relate to a person’s emotional state of mind. The nasty slobbering sex hormones of testosterone and estrogen drive lust. They are revved and raring for sexual contact and reproduction. While lust is exclusive to romantic entanglements, it doesn’t care about the future, picking out curtains together, or wedding bells. Lust wants her jollies now. Lust is explosive and short term, but with the right mental attitude and hormonal boost can morph into long-term attachment, and this isn’t only found in humans. Let’s give it up for our friends, the prairie vole. Prairie voles indulge in far more sex than is strictly necessary for the purposes of reproduction. (Life is good for prairie voles.) Biologists have determined in their society sex is the prelude to long-term male/female pair bonding. In an experiment, male prairie voles were given a drug to suppress hormonal effect. The bond with their partner deteriorated immediately. They lost their devotion and failed to fend off their partner’s new suitors. Couples counselling had no effect.

Attraction

While attraction and lust often co-mingle, it is possible to have one without the other. Attraction kicks off in the brain pathways that control reward behavior and releases dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. They stimulate pleasure centers during enjoyable moments such as time with loved ones or sexual encounters. Hormones reinforce the desire to keep the fires burning. The first few weeks or months of a relationship are exhilarating or even all-consuming. Feelings of giddiness, excess energy, and euphoria, lead to a decrease in appetite and even insomnia. Thanks to brain chemistry, the feeling of being in love can be so overpowering a person can’t eat or sleep. Kind of like a bad stomach virus.

Attachment

Attachment commitment focuses on relationship building, both long and short-term. Long-term are powerful such as in parent-infant bonding, sibling relationships, and close friendships. Short-term govern behavior in social situations like the workplace. Oxytocin, nicknamed the cuddle hormone, plays a big role in attachment. It’s released during bonding events such as sex, breastfeeding, and childbirth, and also reinforces positive feelings we already have toward people we love. As attachments to families, friends, and loved ones grows, the flow of oxytocin continues increasing our affection. While this is a good thing for monogamy, such associations may have a downside. Oxytocin is thought to play a role in ethnocentrism, increasing our love for people in cultural groups and making those unlike us seem threatening. Oxytocin—the closet bigot.

Why does the brain need a separation between the three brain states with different chemicals for each? Scientists determined that while they all contribute to well-balanced mental health, so does maintaining a boundary. Without it, there can be a nasty emotional spillover. Who wants to feel attraction (yuck) or lust (double yuck) instead of attachment to family members?

What does all this blather mean to your love life?

So how do we handle our hormones so that a relationship lasts? First, don’t mistake lust for love. Lust is shorter, so give a new relationship time to develop. Keep the dopamine flowing. Relationships have a better chance of becoming long-term when couples pursue intimate moments that aren’t just sexual. Shared activities such as movie nights, dancing, trying new activities or restaurants all increase feelings of intimacy. A hug or kiss, simply talking about shared hopes and future dreams or offering support to your partner can stimulate a powerful hormonal rush. Want to hear what the scientists have to say? Check out TED talks on the weird science of love.

Monday, February 5, 2018

Heather and Mick have a long history together, and Heather wants
to leave it in the past where it belongs. Yet, here Mick is, very much in her
present, thanks to her brother Jeff, who hired Mick to be her boss at the
Retreat at Rivers Bend.

It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still
attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is
considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should
be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town,
country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West
Virginia coal-mining roots.

Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and
find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?

Excerpt

“Stick close. I’ll get you out of
here.”

He used his broad shoulders as a
wedge to propel himself though the crowd; Heather scurried to keep up with him
so she could take advantage of the gap he created, not wanting to be so close
that she could feel the warmth of his body through his elegant suit, but
because she needed somehow to beat this crush of people to the Retreat to make
sure that everything was in place for the post-christening party she’d planned
for Bethanne – only perfection would do for her BFF.

She watched Mick’s back as she
stuck close to him; he looked so strong and fit – it was hard to imagine him
the way he was ten years ago, when he’d suffered his NFL career-ending injury,
but the same business acumen that kept him with the Portland Pintos
organization back then was the reason Jeff and Cisco hired him at the Retreat.

He’d be good for business – she’d
just have to keep chanting those words in her head like a mantra, or else she’d
do one of two things she’d regret – kill Mick, or kiss him, and she’d gone the
kissing route with him before. It did not end well. And tempting as the killing
option was at the moment, it probably wouldn’t end any better.

My
career has been a winding road. I worked in the business world for years, got
my MLS and worked in a school library, and am now living my dream as an author.
I love to read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. I live in Maryland, with my husband, who is my real-life
romance hero. We both enjoy traveling to visit our far-flung family and
friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

One of the pleasures of writing is the ability to draft a new world from scratch. You not only have god-like power to create characters, but baptize them as well. However, as every potential parent will tell you, choosing a name for their little darling isn’t as easy as it seems. Often names have cultural, religious, or ethnic significance. Many ancient societies had religious or magical naming rites. Modern Catholicism has Confirmation. A child selects a saint’s name in the belief the saint will guide moral choices. Names can also have a particular order depending on cultural conventions. In China, the surname or xing is first and usually, but not always, monosyllabic. The personal name or ming follows and is nearly always one syllable. Spanish naming custom draw from both sides of a child’s family. The given name is followed by two surnames; the first is from the father and the last from the mother.

In Native American cultures a name is often tied to nature and the actual naming ceremony may be guided by an elder or tribal shaman. Names may not be static, but change through a lifetime. In the Mohegan tribe in upper Connecticut, the first name a child receives is descriptive, but during adolescence, a new name may be given that better reflects life experiences. It may change again in adulthood.

To some extent, the custom continues with nicknames. Spouses may call each other Honey or Sweetheart. A nickname dubbed in childhood can be shed as an adult or a new one adopted. Nicknames can be benign and used to describe physical characteristics, such as Lefty or Slim or have a darker purpose. Mobsters get nicknames, sometimes by law enforcement, but also from each other. A mob nickname sets an individual apart and often describes an anti-social attribute. Joe Bonnano was referred to as Joe Bananas, not because he liked the fruit, but because he was crazy. Benjamin Siegel hated the nickname, Bugsy, which referred to his less than placid nature and explosive temper. Nobody, but nobody called him Bugsy to his face unless they wanted to be fitted for concrete overshoes.

In modern America anything goes. You can dub a kid Fruit Stand if you want and no one will squawk. (I’ve heard stupider baby names from Hollywood.) If you want to break the rules though, it’s nice to know what they are first. For instance, western society dictates a diminutive boy’s name will end in ‘y’ rather than the feminine ‘i’ or ‘ie’. Nicky is masculine, Nicki or Nickie is feminine and looks weird attached to a boy. Generally, girls’ names end with an ‘a’, but boys don’t. If two characters in a story are named Will and Willa, one is obviously a girl and the other a boy. However, a different ethnic background changes the rules. In Eastern Europe, some male names such as Bela or Luca end in “a”.

A boy’s name can be given to a girl, but not the other way around without sounding wrong. Once a boy’s name is fully adopted by girls, it never goes back to being a boy’s name again. Originally, Stacy, Leslie, and Tracy were boys’ name. They have since faded from little blue baby books. Ashley Wilkes from Gone with the Wind was all man and never swapped girl talk with Scarlet O’Hara. More recently, Morgan and Taylor both started as manly men. The popularity of the names soared for girls, and consequently plummeted for boys. A few years from now, any contemporary story describing studly Morgan and his facial scruff, may bring giggles.

In historic fiction, the name needs to fit the era. Nobody, but nobody, christened their daughter Madison until the popularity of the movie Splash in 1984. Five years later there was an explosion of little Madisons in kindergarten. Find that name attached to the heroine of a novel set in 1875 Boston and the first thing that pops to mind is the writer ignored simple research. Lists of names for particular time periods are found easily on the Internet. The Social Security Administration has a fun site where you can check past name popularity. (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ ). Despite a novel's setting, a character’s date of birth always needs to be kept in mind. An eighty year old grandmother living in 2018 might be named Betty or Mary, but definitely not Riley, Aubrey, or Addison which are all recent addition to the trendy name list.

If you still want to give your (fictional or real) pride and joy something trendy, remember it doesn’t take long to sound dated, stale, or downright silly. Minnie and Clarence were popular choices in the 1880s, but where are they today? So choose a name you can live with for the next fifty years and best of luck to you with little Fruit Stand.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

I’ve never had the desire to visit Africa, but as soon as I
finished listening, I wanted to hop the next flight to Botswana. This audiobook is a
gem. There are no car chases, no gunfights, so martial arts smack downs just a
smart woman working hard to realize her dream of being the first lady detective
in Botswana. There’s a ton I liked. The heroine, Precious
Ramotswe, is clever, observant, and has a kind heart, all excellent qualities
for a lady detective. She is, as she says, “a fat African woman” and proud of
it. The cozy mysteries at her detective agency are told with good humor and
charm. The timeline of the story flicks from past to present, but is so
well-written it’s easy to follow. The reader learns about Precious’ childhood
and how she developed the knack for detective work. Along the way, family,
friends, and fascinating characters galore appear. I enjoyed the asides. They
brought more descriptive color to an already colorful tale.

The author has an exceptional eye for detail and writes with
the completely believable voice of a black African woman. It’s not long before
I felt I was sitting next to Precious in her little white van driving along the
dusty back roads of Botswana, off on another case. I rather wish I was.

The narrator, Lisette Lecat, is outstanding. She can do
female and male characters of different ages and tackles the soft lilt of
African accents with ease. Her pronunciation of African words is smooth and
erring. For this reason, I highly recommend the audiobook over electronic or
print versions.